Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Bronx Bombin'

Yes, I made it back to New York.  My final week in India was interesting because I was dealing with lingering illness.  Without going into too much detail, I was still having effects of whatever began plaguing me that last night at Darling even when I came back to the U.S.  Luckily, Cipro is essentially miraculous and was able to wipe out whatever residual disease was hanging out in my intestines, and I am now (I think) cured.

I arrived in New York early on Wednesday morning.  By the time I went to bed that night, I had been up for 44 straight hours (except, I suppose, 1-2 hours of napping on the plane).  My body was so confused that I never had very bad jet lag, just a few nights of needing to go to sleep slightly earlier than normal while waking up at a normal time in the morning.  That was fortunate, because we started classes the next day, on Thursday.  My attitude toward medical school has taken a drastic turn since last June, when I was dreading coming back in the fall.  I'm actually very excited and happy to be back.  It's been so fun to see my friends here again, and classes, though harder, will be much more interesting than last year.  Even more than these reasons (which are great reasons to be excited on their own), I now have a goal, a view of the future, a reason to be excited about medicine and my future career.  That goal is flight medicine.  I am determined not to lose sight of it, for it has given me more focus and determination than I have ever felt toward medicine in the past.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying being back in America.  Most of this centers around foods that I missed.  Cold milk, cereal, barbecue, pasta, fresh vegetables, macaroni and cheese, strong coffee...I could go on forever.  It's great to be home!

Friday, August 13, 2010

Ooty

A weekend retold in pictures.

Five of us - me, Craig, Dave, Warren, and Florian - decided to go to Ooty for the weekend, despite being unable to book return train tickets (back to Vellore).  We figured we'd ask around about other transportation options once we got there.

After a sleeper train which was uneventful except for the fact that we were too giddy to sleep for the first few hours and instead stayed up talking, we arrived in Mettupalayam.  This man - coffeecoffeecoffee man - was a hero.

Surprisingly, we were able to snag tickets on the toy train up the mountain.  Since it ran on steam, it had to make frequent stops to refill its water tank.

The stops gave us a chance to get out, stretch our legs, enjoy the views...and take ridiculous pictures with overzealous fellow passengers.

Some stops had more entertainment than we expected.

The ride up the mountain was slow (46 km in 4 hours), but the views were worth it.  Plus, we considered it all just another part of the adventure.

Once we made it to Ooty, we did all the necessary touristy activities, like paddleboating.

We also had a good time visiting the tea factory and museum.  This was after inadvertently ripping off an autorickshaw driver and before nearly getting stranded at the factory.  As always - just another part of the adventure.

Ooty itself is quite pretty.  Back in the 1800s, the government would relocate here from Madras during the summer to beat the heat.

We also went on a half-day trek nearby.  As we walked over the misty, deserted hills, one of the guys started whistling music from Lord of the Rings.  Well, I suppose it looks a bit like the movies...

We walked through a maze of tea bushes, being as careful as we could not to slip in the mud.

At the end of the trek, we ate snacks in a small village before catching the bus back to Ooty, where we would hire a cab to take us back to Vellore.

The cab ride was quite the adventure.  Immediately after making it down the long, winding road around the mountain, we were stuck in a traffic jam for 90+ minutes.  We even convinced our driver to get out of the car and take a picture.

The traffic jam did give us a beautiful view of the sunset over the hills.

After several hours of playing cards and inhaling fumes, the cab got a flat.  We used the spare until our driver could find a "puncture" shop, a difficult feat at 11:30 p.m.

Eventually we made it back to Vellore, 13 hours after leaving Ooty.  That was one long cab ride.  All part of the adventure.  We all agree - it was a fantastic weekend!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Illness

I've been meaning, for the past few days, to write about the fantastic weekend I had in Ooty.  India doesn't always let you do what you want.  I was completely fine on Tuesday, but things got really bad really quickly beginning yesterday morning.  I was tired.  My muscles ached.  My bones ached.  I was not hungry.  I had a headache.  Most of the day, I took catnaps in the library, wanting my 3:00 meeting to come quickly so I could go home to rest.  Unfortunately, Wednesday nights are Darling nights - all the international students go to a local restaurant, and usually it's a highlight of the week.  Should I go to Darling or not?  I took a 90-minute nap and felt somewhat better, so I decided to go.  Bad decision.  As soon as I got there, I started feeling cold.  Cold - in the open air, at 90 degrees.  It was getting harder to focus.  And then there was that feeling that I've only had twice before, the feeling of my pulse slowing and my vision narrowing.  I fainted.  Suddenly I was surrounded by people, asking me questions that I couldn't hear.  Why was my sandal off?  Why was everyone staring?  I guess it was fortunate that I was surrounded by medical students, many of whom are only a year from graduating.  After letting me rest a bit, one of the guys caught an autorickshaw with me back to my lodging.

It wasn't over yet - the night was miserable.  I wish I had a thermometer with me, because I've never felt that hot in my life.  My body was burning, but I was alternately cold and then hot.  I couldn't get comfortable.  I alternately bundled up under heavy blankets and then, minutes later, would throw them off again.  My heart raced at 120 beats per minute, even though all I was doing was trying to sleep.  The night seemed long because of my inability to sleep comfortably.  I briefly considered going to the hospital this morning - for treatment, not for work - but didn't feel up to it.  I lay in bed and tried to read, but mostly just fell asleep or stared at the ceiling.

I'm feeling (somewhat) better now.  I've stopped sweating at the slightest movement, I have less (no?) fever, and I haven't slept in a few hours.  I don't think I'll be able to stay up for the Perseids as was the plan, but then again, I don't know if these clouds will leave by tonight, anyway.  Maybe instead I'll feel up to reliving the weekend at Ooty.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Kerala


Kerala is known for its spices.  Many of the traditional dishes have a really interesting combination of spicy plus savory: lots of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.

Kochi, the city we stayed in, has these enormous Chinese fishing nets.  Apparently they're not all that profitable anymore, but they're popular with the tourists...

...including us.  We caught about 8 pathetically small sea creatures that were later released back into the ocean.

Kerala is also famous for its beautiful backwaters, where the salt and fresh waters combine in a network of rivers and canals.  We had a day-long houseboat tour (essentially a giant canoe with a roof), which was incredibly peaceful.

We took a cooking class with the famous (and extremely friendly) Leelu, who showed us how to make several dishes as well as chapathi.  Notice the candle - the power had gone out, so we did everything by candlelight!

Speaking of food, stuffed parathas might just be the best invention EVER.  We visited Dal Roti, a popular restaurant, twice because it was so good!

Santa Cruz Basilica, a very large and very beautiful remnant of the Portuguese influence on Kochi.  Mass was in Malayalam, which seemed to be spoken even faster than Tamil.

Let this picture suffice to merely hint at our travel-related adventures.  (We were lucky to get back on Monday morning.  It was looking a bit dicey at about 11 p.m. Sunday...)  Here, in a classic display of Indian ingenuity, our rickshaw driver is pushing another rickshaw, whose motor apparently wasn't working, with his foot.  Through traffic.  For more than a mile.  Oh, India.

Mahabalipuram

Mahabalipuram is known for its stone carvings.  I don't quite know how you'd get something like this home, though...

Part of Arjuna's Penance, one of the many detailed (and very old) carvings in Mahabalipuram

Yeah, they're cute, but don't let them steal stuff from you!

Contemplating the Five Rathas, stone "chariots" to different deities, all carved from the same bit of exposed bedrock

Cows on the beach??  Well, after all, this is India...

Trips

The past two weekends, I was able to travel and get out of Vellore for a bit.  Since I've obviously been pretty lazy when it comes to updating this thing while in India, I'll continue with my lazy streak and describe those weekends through pictures.  The first weekend was a trip to Mahabalipuram, a place I've been before (on my 21st birthday, no less), just south of Chennai.  The second weekend was a longer trip to Kerala, the state that borders Tamil Nadu and constitutes the southwest coast of India.  Enjoy.